Yes, I had this flavor for lunch today. Gelato actually. It was at Otto (Pizza, Mario Batali) on 5th Ave/8th St. NYC. And...

It was delicious!! A friend recommended it, I thought he was crazy. But out came a nice scoop, drizzled with a sort of salted caramel sauce with little chunks of salt!!! "Delicious wedding of sweet and salty"

I'm not even sure what else to say, except I just wanted to say something here! Again, deliicious.

You know, I got a mailing advertising the following today. Its picture alone makes the ice cream sound delicious. Perhaps you could make a pizza with a combination of the two.

The copy, edited only for length, reads,

"Basiron Pesto (Gouda with Pesto)This cheese is every bit as good as it sounds! Basiron is a creamy-tasting, Gouda-style Dutch cheese jazzed up with pesto. Perfectly balanced and extremely addictive, this glitzy cheese "shows off" for Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, or almost any occasion. Its ingredients include pasteurized cow’s milk, vegetarian rennet, and pesto (basil and garlic.) It has 50% fat in dry matter and is aged approximately 5-6 weeks for a firm, yet youthful texture.

Although Basiron is a show stopper on the cheese board, its festive color is always ready to complement a tray of vegetables or equally colorful cheeses such as red-waxed Gouda or Edam."

"...At this point, we were ready to write the evening off as just "ok." Then the dessert menu came. Having eaten from the Otto Gelato cart in Washington Square Park, I knew what we had to do. I also knew that olive oil gelato (which I'd never had and sounded scary) was supposed to be far and away the best. So Jason and I chose 3 flavors: olive oil, pumpkin and ginger. Out it came:

Jason and I dipped our spoons in nervously. Olive oil gelato? What could this taste like?

*Cue music*

HEAVENI'M IN HEAVEN

*end music*

We were oohing and ahhing so loudly that the two ladies sitting next to us who were also ordering gelato asked us what was so good. We told them olive oil gelato. They ordered it too. When it came they oohed and ahhed also. It was an ooh ahh festival.

What made it so great? It was sweet, it was creamy, it was sultry and--most importantly--there was salt in it. It was peculiar. It was head-scratchingly good. We devoured it in 45 seconds. We then ate somewhat less greedily the remaining pumpkin and ginger. That was good too. But it was no olive oil.

In conclusion, should you go to Otto: (1) make a reservation; (2) don't overpay for wine; (3) choose a pizza or pasta but don't expect to have your head blown; (4) order olive oil gelato. Have your head blown."

Salty ice cream? Funny you should mention that: a month or three ago I visited [url='http://www.jenisicecreams.com/0500allflavors.html']Jeni's[/url], reviewed [url='http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=4112&RefID=4182']here[/url], and ordered some of their "Salty Caramel." It was. . . interesting. Not bad per se, just interesting. I actually ordered a variety six-pack. The only one my wife and I really liked a lot was the Bartlett Pear and Riesling Sorbet, though all were passable. No, they were good. But not good enough to pay the shipping from Ohio again.

Actually the salt was like a "mix-in" - the ice cream/gelato was sweet but it had small crunchy salt crystals in it. It reminded me of those "pretzel cones" that used to be popular. Think of a refined vanilla ice cream in a pretzel cone (and pay $6).

I also saw a recipe online from Williams Sonoma for Olive Oil Ice Cream with Strawberry-Balsaic Vinegar Suace. Very "Italian" they say.

Yeah, pretzel cones! Sweet and salty. I've gotta have some. Yes, I eat pretzels with my ice cream when I can. I also love to eat potato chips with cake, esp. when the cake is maybe a bit too sweet. It's probably a good thing I don't have access to pretzel ice cream cones, though, because I'd surely be slurping down at least one cone a day.

There is a nice flavor that comes from the extra virgin olive oil, but I think there are other minor flavors added into that ice cream, I have to try it. I've made a delicious Olive Oil Breakfast cake with 1 1/4 cups of extra virgin oil but the recipe also called for orange rind from 3 oranges and a little vanilla, eggs, sugar.

Wow. I had never heard of an olive oil-based ice cream. I do, however have a few cake recipes using olive oil in the mixture. Quite simply the most decadent addition to any dessert. I have made chocolate cupcakes and poundcake with citrus flavor using olive oil, and I must say it adds a whole new depth of flavor and richness while surprisingly cutting back on the number of calories.